What was your first job?The first job I ever had was actually working for another small game store here in town called RePlay games. It was there that I discovered that ‘work’ was a lot more involved than I imagined, but after getting past the desire to just play games all day, I was fortunate enough to develop a strong business acumen. I thought I had a good job, but that was before I knew—cleaning, testing, and packaging games to provide an outlet for people outside of me was the name of the game. When I discovered I could help people with games, I had found my calling.What motivates you to succeed besides the desire to make money?It’s a secret to everybody! Ok, maybe it’s not, but video games are something that I know better than anything else in my life, and I feel that it’s my responsibility to share that passion with everyone, not withhold it. I can’t imagine being a prodigy at an instrument and not gifting that music to the world, and while I may not have that level of acclaim with my gaming love (or do I?), I feel that keeping that to myself is a disservice to those who have any interest in gaming at all. What successes in the past year are you most proud of accomplishing?The biggest accomplishment I’m proud of seeing through is running our West Side store through it’s first three years. Opening a brand new branch is super tough, but thanks to some great employees and a lot of great friends, we’ve established a strong enough presence in our second location to sustain itself, which is a huge weight off my shoulders. Most importantly, the winner is you—our customers—who will benefit from having an extra location.What do you offer that the competition doesn’t?While my style isn’t so much about comparison with someone else, I can definitely say that what I can provide is a strong, positive attitude. Life’s hard at times, and sometimes you just have to force your biggest smile and do what it takes to get through. We love and value our customers more than anything, and we’ll do whatever it takes to let them know we appreciated them. That’s our bottom line.What are your growth goals?I can’t simply settle for just reaching a single plateau and being content with that, so it looks like I’m going to have to activate my eagle vision and figure out what roads lay ahead of me. Expansion is always a reasonable next step, but how about franchising? Moving on to work at Nintendo? Making the next great game? In due time, but rest assured. How has the Internet affected your business and how do you think it might affect your business in the future?The internet, of course, is kind of the ultimate untapped resource for us. I’m well aware of what I want to do with it, but a lot more planning goes into it than simply putting things online. Sometimes you have to rise from your grave and do something bigger than you’ve imagined. While we’re working on establishing a stronger web presence, our ultimate goal is to be able to put our product and accessibility online. It’s a long road, but I feel that we’re steadily approaching the time when we are fully integrated as a storefront to coexist with the internet and expand our market to customers outside of Albuquerque.If you had to choose another career or start another business what would it be?This is a pretty big deviation, but I can’t handle my love for animals. Games are my bread and butter, but taking care of animals melts my heart the most. I’d love to build and provide shelters for animals that don’t have access to the comfort of loving homes, and maybe even dedicate some land as a sanctuary for life’s furry companions. Some say that man is just a miserable little pile of secrets, but animals bare their souls without hesitation. I can get behind that.What inspires you?Good people. When I hear of people helping others without the desire to get anything in return, it makes me feel immediately more connected to people. I want to give as best I can, and I don’t want to think of myself as limited in any capacity. Simply seeing people smile can go a long way, and every single time we have a customer who can come in and marvel at all the work we’ve put into the store, I feel like I could take on the world.Three passions outside of work?Wow, so outside of work, can I say gaming? Let’s go with no, so you can see that I like other things too. I’m into art, so you’re likely going to find some of my drawings or animation floating around out there. I’m also into music, and while I might be kind of a spoony bard, I really enjoy making some ridiculous sounds. I also love working on my website and doing general graphic design, writing articles, and making videos.
This Is Albuquerque: Gamers Anonymous
Alibi
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5 min read
